Packing mechanism.



No. 734,344. PATENTED JULY 21, 190s.

J. A. lLULTHY.

PAGKING MBCHANISM.

APPLIGATION PILED NOV. 1, 1900.

Patented July 21, 1903.

PACKING MECH/amera.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 734,344, dated July 21, 1903.

Appiicasou filed Novemberi, 1900. serai No. 35,159. (No man.)

tain Improvements in Packing Mechanism,

of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in packing mechanism applicable for packing pistons in their cylinders, piston.

rods in their stuffing-boxes, and other moving members controlled directly by motive fluid under pressure, which members have bearing-surfaces subject'to leakage of such motive fluid. The bearing-faces of such moving members are packed by a suitable fluid. packing medium which is caused to circulate around'the parts under suitable pressure and within certain limits, preferably defined by grooves formed in one or both surfaces of the members f to be packed, by the improved mechanism forming the subject of my invention..

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide 'mechanism for forcing a packing medium between thesurfaces to be packed that will be actuated by the motive iiuid controlling the operation of the moving member, such packing following closely any unevenness of the surfaces, filling the leakage-space and effectually closing the same; second, to provide mechanism for eiectin g the improved method of packing economically, and, third, to secure a gain of ciency in the working power of the members operated upon and at the same time increase the term of usefulness of said members. l

In other words, my invention consists in providing 'mechanism operated through the medium of the motive fluid for the moving member for actuating a frictionless packing medium that will entirely prevent escape of motive fluid' and which will at thesame time cool and lubricate the moving member or members and their bearing-surfaces.

My'invention is fully illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure lis a sectional view of a piston embodying one method of carrying my invention into effect, takenon the line a a, Fig. 2. .Fig 2 is a plan view of said piston, the cyli'nder being shown in section on the line b b,

l Fig. l; and Fig..3 is a sectional view of part of the piston,

taken on the line c c, Fig. 2. Instead of having a piston or stuiiing-box provided with spaces for soft packing-rings or having recesses for solid or metal packingrings I provide the bearing-surface of the piston or stuffing-box with a groove orin some instances a series of grooves so ar.- ranged that such groove or grooves will be continuous and cover the'entire surface traversed by the moving member,which comprises the space or outlet the motive iuid would Through' accept in its attempt to escape. this groove a suitable Huid packing mediumsuchasoil, water, air, or steam-is conveyed under'suitable pressure during the presence of the motive fluid in the adjacent chamber. For economy in usingthe fluid packing medium the grooves for confining the same have noexit, but are continuous from end to end. Where it is desired to cool as well as lubricate and pack the meeting and moving members, however, the grooves should be so arranged that the packing medium may be circulated through the' same.

The fluid packing medium may he supplied by any suitable pumping mechanism, or a reservoir or tank may be arranged at a convenient point. lf a tank is employed, it should have a discharge-outlet communicating with the groove to contain the packing stream. The supply'of 'packing medium should be abundant, so that the desired pressure may oe maintained in order that 4any discharge from the grooves used to pack the leakage can be `properly supplemented. This discharge is an essential part of my improved packing method, as it insures the filling of the entire space, no matter in what condition it may be, around the piston or piston-rodi, dac., when such members arein their proper relative position. With the old method of packing with rings of solid substanceany uneven'ness of the surface could only be bridgedbnt not filled. V

' The method of packing forming the subject of my invention can also be applied in connection with packing-rings or other forms of solid packing, and such procedure is to be recommended when the surfaces'to be packed are improperlyconstructed or much worn.

lf the pressure of motive fluid is high, the

faces of the fixed packing medium.r Thickish oil -eral lubrication provided application of several streams of the packing medium is advisable, and by having the pressure of such streams successively lower as they are placed farther away from the end of the stung-box adjacent to the chamber containing the motive fluid such packing streams will be exposed to only a fractional part of the pressure of such motive fluid, thus saving the cohesive and adhesive qualities of the fiuid or other substance forming such (cylinder-oil) possessing com pactness and good antifriction qualities is the preferred fluid to be employed as a packing medium. In cases where the application o'f several packing streams for simultaneous action is desired the use of different packing mediums may give better resultsas, for instance, in a gas-engine ofthe Otto type the application of two separate streams of packing fluid, one of oil and one of water, to simultaneously pack the engine-piston would give good results and besides this lubricate and effectually c ool the cylinder-wall and piston.

For use with the engines of automobiles one packing stream of air i'n connection with the packing stream of ol would pack, cool, and lubricate the moving parts of the'same without increasing the weight to be carried by the automobile.

The advantage of my improved method of packing the moving parts of all types ofengines and other mechanism as compared with the old method of packing is at once apparent in the prevention of the escape of motive lfiuid. It is further apparent in the remarkable reduction of friction, which is always present with metal packing- ),f-ringsv or other solid forms of packing, and finally in thelibby my improved method, which insures freedom from friction of those parts usually carrying the ordinary packing.

In carrying out my invention according to one part of t-he same-that is to say, as applied to pistons in their cylinders-l provide the peripheral face of the piston with a series of grooves to receive acoustant supply of the fluid forming the packing medium and mount in the head of the piston a reservoir containing such fluid, with pumps communicating with sai'd reservoir and so arranged that they will act when the piston is moving in either direction.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the accompanying drawings, 1 represents a piston adapted for use in a vertical steam-engine, having a series of grooves 2 and 3 cut in the peripheral face of the same, which is in nominal contact with the wallsot the cylinder 4. Within the piston a reservoir fais provided, closed on one side by a suitable cap-plate 6 and having an inlet-tube 7 closed by a screw-plug 8. This piston is secu red to the rodA 9 by an ordinary nut 10, said rod having a shoulder 9 restingagainst one side of the piston, and said nut serves also to hold the cap-plate G `within the chamberll.

.13a and 14.a

which has entered the same from the reservoir 5-that isto say, when the piston is moving in the direction of the arrow a: the motive fluid propelling the same acts upon lthe piston 13 and causes it to force out the fluid When thepiston is moving in the direction of the arrow 1 the same action is taking place with regard to the piston 14, and the piston 13, acting under the pressure 'of the spring 15, which is interposed between the plate .covering the'chamber 11 and a collar 16, carried by the pistonrod 13, causes said chamber to fill with the packing medium below said piston. -Communicating with these chambers 11 and 12 are the passages 1'7 and 18, the latter serving as a means of communication between the chamber and the grooves 2 and 8 of the piston, `while the former afford communication between the piston-chambers and the reservoir. The passage 17, leading to the pistonlchamber 11, is controlled by the valve 19,

and the passage 18, leading to the groove 2, is controlled by the valve 20, while the passages having the same relation to'the pistonchamber 12 areV 'controlled by the valves 21 and 22. Covering the chambers 11 and 12 are plates 23, through which the piston-rods 13a and 14 pass, and each ofsaid plates has openings 24 for the free passage to said chambers 11 and 12 of the motive iiuid within the cylinder 4 which controls the vmovement of the main piston l. Each of the piston-rods has acollar 16 at its end, andbetween said collars and the plates 23 springs 15 are interposed, which serve to return said pistons to their normal positions after they have been acted upon by the motive fluid within the cylinder 4.

The operation of my device is as follows:

.lf the main piston 1 be moved in the direction of the arrow the motive fluid moving the same enters the chamber 11 through the openings 24 andacting upon the piston 13 within said cylinder forces out the packing medium collected within the same from the reservoir through the passage 18`to the groove 2 of the piston. The packing medium circulating within the groove 2 under pressure will effectually pack the piston within the cylinder and lubricate the piston at the same time. Upon the return stroke of the piston the same action will take place with regard to the chamber and piston 12 and 14, the lubricating and packing medium therein being discharged to the groove 3 in the peripheral wall of the piston through the passage 1S. The surplus packing medium which has been discharged into the groove 2 during the ICO forward movement of the main piston and which has covered the wall of the cylinder ,return stroke of the same and is conveyed by a series of passages 26 to the reservoir 5 of the piston. By this means there is no waste of the oil and eectual packing and lubricating means is'provided.

By discharging the stream of packing me! diumto the groove 2 when the piston is moving in the upward direction and to the groove 3 when the piston is moving in the downward direction' any leakage of such streams of packing medium will be directed toward the annular groove 25, where said discharges collect and by gravity are brought into the res- Iervoir 5 to be used again in the process of packing;

For some work the packing medium under constant pressure. In other instances it may be desir-.-

ableto have the pressure only when the motive fluid is adjacent to and acting against the portion of the structure to be packed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination of a xed structure having a bearing-surface, a moving structure actuated by fluid under pressure and having a bearing-surface in contact with that ofthe fixed structure, such members being designed to Work together without leakage pastthe joint bearing-surface, and having chambers for the recept-ion of auidpacking medium for such surface, and means carried by one of said members for forcing such packing medium between said bearing-surfaces, the pressure on the packing medium rising and falling with the pressure of 'the motive fluid upon the moving structure.

2. The combination of a fixed structure having a bearing-surface, a moving structure actuated by fluid under pressure and having a bearing-surfacev in contact with that of the fixed structure, such members being designed to work together without leakage past the joint bearing-surface, and having chambers for the reception of avfiuid packing medium for suchsurface, and means carried by one of said members for forcing such packing medium between said bearing-surfaces, the pressure on the packing medium rising and fallingwith the pressure of the motive fiuid nponfthe moving structure, whereby the greatest pressure upon said packing medium will be coincident with the greatest pressure upon the moving structure, thereby eftectually packing moving structure and preventing leakage past the same. w

3. The combination of a fixed structure having a bearing-surface, a moving structure 'actuated by Huid under pressure and having a bearing-surface in contact with that of the fixed structure, such members being designed it may be desirable to have the space between the ixedandv to work together without leakage pastthe joint bearing-surface, and having chambers for the reception of a fluid packing medium for such surface, means carried by one of said members for forcing such packing medium between said bearing-surfaces, and ,means for actuating such forcing means by v t'ne operation of the moving structure, the

pressure on the packing medium rising and falling with the pressure of the motive fluid upon the moving structure.

4. Thecombination ofa fixed structure having a bearing-surface, a moving structure having a bearing-surface, such members designed to Work together without leakage past the joint bearing-surface, and having chambers for the` reception of a fluid packing I nedium, one of said members having grooves formed in its bearing-surface, and means carried by one of said members for forcing the packing medium into said grooves to fill the space between the bearing-surfaces, the pres sureV on the packing medium rising and falling with the pressure ofmotive fluid upon the moving structure. A

5. The combination of the fixed structure having a bearing-surface, a moving structure having abearing-surface, such members designed to work together without leakage past the joint bearing-surface, and having chambers for the reception of a fluid packing medium, one of said members having grooves formedin its bearing-surface, by one of said members for forcing the packing medium into said grooves to iill the space between the bearing-surfaces, and means for actuating such forcing means by the operation-of the moving member, the pressure on the packing medium rising and falling with the pressure of motivefiuid upon the moving structure. j

6. -The combination of the fixed structure having a bearing-surface, a moving structure having a bearing-surface, such members designed to Work together without leakage past the joint bearing-surface, said moving structure having grooves formed in its bearingsurface, and having chambers containing fluid packing medium, such chambers being in communication with said grooves, pumpsv carried by saidmoving member and actuated as said member is traversed back and forth to force the packing medium between the bearing-surfaces, and valves controlling the passages from the chambers,said valves opening and closing automatically as the direction of movement of the moving member is changed.

7. The combination of the casing or cy'linder, a main piston adapted to move within the same having grooves formed in the bearing-face of the same, andhaving chambers containing a fluid packing medium, passages leading from said chambers to the grooves of the piston, auxiliary pump-pistons carried by the main piston and adapted to move in said chambers whereby as the main piston is means carried IIO tion with said grooves, said moved, the packing medium will be forced to the annular grooves of said piston, means for returning said pump-pistons to their normal positions, and valves controlling the passages from the chambers containing the packing medium to the grooves of the main piston.

8. The combination of the cylinder, a main piston within said cylinder, said piston having grooves cut in the bearing-face of the same, and having chambers in communicachambers carrying a fluid packing medium, pump-pistons for forcing the Iiuid packing medium into the grooves of the main piston, said piston having a collecting channel or groove arranged at the center of the same midway of the packing-grooves and adapted to receive the surplus packing medium, said piston having also a reservoir for the reception of the packing medium, which reservoir is open to this central groove, and valves controllingthe passages leading from the pump-chambers to the packing-grooves of the main piston:

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

.T. ADOLF LUETHY. Witnesses: y f

JOHN R. WoLFE,

J osIAH S. PEDRICK. 

